Oh man, am I a bad updater or what!

Sorry for the long wait! I was wrestling with Ranger (not in the dirty way, but mmm...) and the story of Jeanne. Honestly, what I've got, I wasn't expecting. Plus RL hasn't given me much time to really sit down and go, what next? (plus with the new story practically banging down the door to be written...). Although I do appreciate the well wishes and the interview went great!

I think there's going to be one or two more chapters... Depending how things turn out.

Not mine!

I woke up to gentle kisses across my forehead. "Here," Carlos said as he sat a bottle of Gatorade down on the table next to me. "Drink this."

"How long was I asleep?" I asked after taking a gulp.

"A few hours." He took a sip from his own bottle. "Ella's going to bring dinner up in a few minutes."

I nodded and took Carlos in. He was bare-chested, wearing only his cargo pants zipped. He'd left the button undone and I could see the hint of his happy trail that I contently followed only hours before. He was delicious. When I met his eyes again, he was grinning. Caught. I blushed.

"You're too cute." He said, sitting down on the bed next to me.

"Why?"

"Because after all the wonderfully dirty things we did just a few hours ago, I can still manage to make you blush."

I tucked a curl behind my ear. "It's the Burg. We were brought up believing that a man wanted a demure woman in and out of the bedroom."

"I wouldn't call you demure when you begged for me to go harder, raked your nails down my back and grabbed my ass."

I blushed harder. "What can I say? I lose my head when we're together."

He placed his forehead on mine. "I love it when you lose your head." He kissed me softly. "Keep fighting the Burg, Babe. You don't belong in that gilded cage."

"Mmm. My mother and sister fit in there, but I don't."

"No." He said, shaking his head. "You belong right here. With me."

My heart melted to my stomach. "If we had time, I'd totally pull you on top, rip those pants off and…" I was interrupted by the bell. "Ooh, saved by the bell."

Carlos's eyes were dark. "She can wait." Carlos growled. "What would you do next?" He asked into my shoulder while alternating nuzzles and kisses.

I looked over at the bedroom door. "But… food." I whispered. My stomach growled loudly, as if protesting leaving Ella on the doorstep.

Carlos sighed, then chuckled. He kissed my forehead. "I can't go against that beast. Keep that thought for later."Carlos got up and let Ella in. I slipped into his discarded shirt and panties. Slipping into the bathroom, I almost let out a screech. My hair was everywhere! I pulled my brush out of my purse and started doing damage control. When it was deemed a lost cause, I dug in and found a hair tie. At least it was somewhat presentable.

Searching the closet, I bit my lip. I had two choices; one was to pull my slacks back on, making me look ridiculous or two, wear one of Carlos's sweats. They would be way too big and I'd have more fabric rolled on my hips than I was actually wearing. Not so comfortable. I didn't want to meet the woman who kept Carlos's house without pants. That just sent the wrong message.

Maybe if I waited a few more minutes… She had to be gone soon, right?

Wrong.

I tiptoed out of the bedroom and the quiet conversation Carlos was having with Ella stopped.

"Oh." I breathed, trying to pull my shirt down my legs. "I thought we were alone."

Carlos just grinned and came to my side. "Its okay, Babe. Ella's not a fool. She knows what we've been doing up here." He kissed my forehead. "Ella, this is Stephanie. The woman who wants you to adopt her."

Ella beamed. "It's wonderful to meet you." She was a short, tiny woman with curly brown hair and big expressive brown eyes. Just like the rest he employed, Ella was wearing the black Rangeman uniform and crocs instead of combat boots.

Carlos said something in Spanish and then left the room. Ella was still smiling, so it wasn't a threat.

"He told me to behave myself." She said, reading my mind. "I wanted to stay and meet you."

"Oh." I felt bad. She must have a ton of work to do and I was being a wuss because I couldn't find pants. "Sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting." I unconsciously pulled at the shirt.

"Don't worry. I'm done for the day. The boys all have their meals. Ranger makes me serve him last. It's left over from his Ranger days. Lester tells me he always made sure the men ate before he did."

I smiled warmly. That sounded exactly like the man I knew.

"The boys were right." Ella was saying, pulling me back. "You're very pretty." She gave me the female once over, and smiled approvingly.

I tucked an escaped curl behind my ear. "Thank you."

She went back to the table and began to set the plates down. "You know, Ranger never brings a girl here. You're the first."

I was stunned. Carlos wasn't a virgin when we met (I mean, come on! Look at him!), but I had no idea he never had a girlfriend here before. "Never?"

She shook her head. "I know that he dates. I mean, the man is too gorgeous not to!" My mouth fell open at her statement. "I may be married, but I can still enjoy a nice looking gentleman. Anyway," she said as she got back to the table. "When I'd ask him if he ever needed anything for two, he'd just smile and say 'someday'. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Thank you Ella. If we need anything, I'll call." Carlos said when he came back into the room. I was disappointed. I didn't get to ask any more questions.

Ella smiled, gave me a small finger wave and was on her way. Carlos came up behind me and hugged me close. He moved his shirt off my shoulder and kissed the bared skin. "What was she talking about?"

"You really never bring women up here?"

"No, I've never brought women up here. I used to date… frequently. It was more about quantity, instead of quality. I work in security so bringing that volume of women up here would be extremely dangerous."

"Especially if one turns out to be crazy and tries to burn your building down." I paused. "Volume? What kind of volume are we talking about?"

"Babe."

"Come on, Carlos. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"I already know yours. Six."

"How…?"

"Your background check. I wanted to know everything about you."

"Jeez. I bet you even know when I had my last pap smear."

"Babe."

"Ohmigod. You do know." I was surprised. If a man told me he knew every intimate detail of my life, I might run screaming from the room. But with Carlos, it wasn't weird. He was checking to make sure I wasn't going to try to set his building on fire.

Okay, him knowing about my last gynecological visit is kind of weird, but I could deal with it.

I was getting off track. Which reminded me… I turned in his arms. "How many are we talking about? Both hands? Hands and feet?" When he didn't answer, I added. "Do you need a calculator?"

He cupped my cheek. "None of them mattered before you, Stephanie."

I bit my lip. That meant quite a lot, but he didn't want to get into specifics. And yet… "Damn, that's a good answer."

"And the truth." He looked me straight in the eyes. "I'm not going to pretend that I was a monk, Babe, but I can honestly say I never wanted to bring those women up here. You are the first one I did."

Man he was good. "I'm beginning to see how you got all those women. Keep saying stuff like that and their panties just drop."

He grinned at me. "Babe."

"I can't believe I met your housekeeper in my panties and shirt."

"Technically, that's my shirt."

"Oh… Do you want it back?"

He grinned again and his eyes darkened. "God knows I'd love to have you for dinner, but I think we need actual food."

"Jeez." At this rate, my face would never stop being a nice shade of red. "Then let's eat."

Ella brought up a nice roast, fresh vegetables and a small salad for Carlos and mashed potatoes for me. She already knew me too well.

"About Jeanne…" Carlos started again.

I grimaced. "While I eat?"

"If I don't do it now, I'm going to get distracted by your legs and then we won't be talking for a long time."

I crossed my legs. "Oh really? I thought my breasts distracted you."

His eyes honed in on them. "Yes." He paused and his eyes finally reached mine. "Although I'm pretty sure it's you that distracts me."

I smiled and cut my meat. "What about her?"

Carlos's POV

"What about her?" She asked.

"You know nothing happened."

Stephanie sat her fork and knife down. "Of course I know that. The woman is poison, but I know I can trust you."

I grinned. "She's not that bad."

Her eyebrows rose. "Really? Did she come into your store, try to befriend you and after buying a shit ton of lingerie say it was for your boyfriend?"

"Well… No."

"Okay then. She can be poison." Stephanie went back to her meal, and sighed. "Fine, she's not all that bad, you know, when I look at it from your point of view. I just don't like her."

I grabbed her hands and kissed the pads of her fingers. I had told her that I'd met Jeanne in Ranger's school. Not many women were still in the program and we were partnered up for the rest of the training. At first we kept our distance personally, but after a few close calls on missions, we broke that barrier and… released the tension.

The grimace Stephanie made was cute. "I don't need to know that." She said.

"Babe."

"You may not have been a virgin when we met, but that doesn't mean I want to know about all your sexcapades. Would you like it if I talked about the men I've slept with?"

I felt my face darken. "Only if you talk about me." No way in hell was I going to sit here and listen to my woman talk about other men satisfying her!

Stephanie's giggle went straight to my groin. What that woman does to me! "Of course, honey. No man has ever satisfied me like you do. I positively orgasm when you reveal your long, thick, hard…"

"Okay, I get it." And it wasn't helping the hard on I was already sporting.

"Well remember the anger when you want to bring up the fact that you slept with that ice queen."

"She wasn't always like that." I said. Stephanie snorted. "The army changes you, Babe."

Her face sobered at that. "I know. I'm sorry; I don't mean to make your time seem trivial. I know the sacrifices you had to make." She squeezed my hand. "I'm just glad that you came home."

She knew about the few close calls I had before my contract was up. It was a miracle that I even came back the same man I left. Much of that had to do with Tank. He made sure I didn't wallow and darken as many of the men do when they come home. He made me realize that life was good.

If he hadn't, I know I wouldn't be sitting with this delightful creature on my right.

"So what happened?" She asked.

We decided to meet up at one of our usual haunts. I made sure that I arrived early, so my back was to the wall. I learned in the Rangers, that if you weren't aware, you were dead.

That and I can make sure Jeanne stayed on her side of the table. Always a bonus.

A few minutes later, she arrived. Smirking, Jeanne sauntered over.

"Some things never change." She said.

I nodded once. "It's good to see you. How long are you back for?"

"A few weeks, maybe longer." She sat down across from me. "We'll see how things go."

The last time she came back, I was able to convince her to stay for a month to help me with a case and other… persuasive methods.

Steph grimaced, but made no comment.

The waitress came over and took our order. She asked about Rangeman and I asked about her mission. Even though I was out, I still had enough clearance to get some details. I may not be the army's go to guy, but Homeland Security still liked to give me a call.

After lunch, I crossed my arms and confronted her. "I heard you had an interesting shopping day."

Jeanne snorted into her water. "Did you now?"

"What were you doing there?"

"Checking out the competition, Ranger. No harm done." She leaned back and preened. "Or is there harm done?"

"Steph's not like that."

"Oh come now, you know I'm kidding."

"What do you think you're going to get out of this?" I asked.

"Nothing, Ranger. Absolutely nothing."

"She didn't believe you, did she?" Steph interjected.

"No, she didn't." I said, kissing her fingers and smiling. "Do you want me to finish the story?"

She didn't answer, but rolled her hand as if to say, 'go on'.

The waitress brought our food and the conversation lightened.

Until the check came.

"It's not going to work." She said as I handed the waitress my credit card. She looked confused until I glared at her and she scuttled off.

"Why's that?"

"She doesn't know you. The real you."

My fist clenched. "She knows me. All of me."

"I find that hard to believe. Carlos," she said as she grabbed my hand. "We share something special between us that no one can ever erase. Rangers' school and the missions afterward. She'll pretend to understand, but she never will. Stephanie can't understand you like I do. And soon enough, you'll start to resent it and her.

"I'm getting out now. We can finally be together."

I slowly slid my hand away. "I want Stephanie." I said lowly. "I will never resent her because she does understand me and what I've been through. You and I were never something permanent, Jeanne."

"And you think you can be permanent with her?" Her face was filled with disgust.

"Yeah, I do." I stood up. "Stay away from Steph. I hope we can be friends someday, but act like the jealous, jilted lover like you are right now and you'll see firsthand I mean it when I say I'll send you to a third world country." Then I left.

"No she didn't!" Stephanie said. "Next time I see that ho, we'll have a good New Jersey smack down."

I grinned. This is one of the reasons why I liked her so much. Her spitfire attitude was the first thing that drew her to me.

I put my forehead on hers. "That's what you got out of it?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "You want something permanent with me?"

"For as long as you'll have me."

She bit her lip. "Okay. I think I can keep you a little while longer."

"Good. Cause I'm not going anywhere, Babe."

Stephanie grinned. "Good." She paused. "Want to get distracted again?"

"Hell yes!"